Baby Cakes
by nannygirl
Summary: When expectant parents Jackie and Hyde can't seem to agree on whether or not they should find out the gender of their baby, they turn to Red and Kitty Forman who share with them a story of their own experience.
1. Chapter 1

_**Disclaimer: **__I own nothing. I do not own That '70s Show or any of its characters. I do not own any of the song, movie, or TV shows referred to in this chapter. I own nothing!_

_**Author's Note: **__Hello everyone! How are you? Hope you're doing well and having a great first week of the month. Today I have for you the first chapter of my new story "Baby Cakes" This is an idea I've been wanting to for a long time but had to put off thanks to other writing but I've finally gotten to writing and posting it and really it has been so much fun I am just hoping that you all enjoy it as much as I've enjoyed writing it. It does star Red and Kitty and Jackie and Hyde, my two favorite pairings, and it's got a similar format as some of my other stories that I have written before which includes a flashback that will be occurring in the next chapter. I'm hoping to keep this as a three shot but you know how sometimes stories take a life of their own so we'll just have to wait and see! This idea was inspired by real life events, lots of baby fever over here lol, and the episode of All in the Family called 'Mike's Pains.' Now there's no set year for the story but it would probably be some time in the 80s. I also have a few thank yous to give out before we get started, thank yous to MidniteRaine, LedZepGrl, and ItsNOLANim for your interest in the story. Thank you MistyMoutainHop for your advice on the cover. Thank you to TvFanaticDayDreamer who support the idea from day one. Thank you to Marla's Lost for once again helping me out and giving me a wonderful title for this story. Thank you! And thank you to you readers who have stopped by to read the story. I really hope you all like it, please review if you can, I'd love to hear your thoughts, and as always, Enjoy!_

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**Baby Cakes**

Red and Kitty Forman sat at their small kitchen dinette enjoying the club sandwiches and sweet tea that Kitty had prepared for lunch.

The only sounds in the room seemed to become from the dishes and food as the pair sat in the kind of silence that most couples who had been married as long as they had, could be found sitting in. It wasn't an angry silence or an uncomfortable one either. Things weren't being said because there was nothing to say, things weren't being said because nothing _needed_ to be said. Usually their home was filled with lively, sometimes overly lively, sounds from their constant visitors but now it was only the two of them and their silence that they each found peaceful and comforting.

"Mr. and Mrs. Forman," a voice called breaking through the silence as the intruder pulled open the glass sliding door and walked into the house…though waddled into the house might be a better way to describe it.

With frowns indented onto their foreheads, one filled with annoyance and the other concern, Red and Kitty turned to see a very pregnant Jackie entering their home with her husband tagging not too far behind. The younger couple had their own set of frowns, though they both appeared to be upset with their anger directed at the other.

"We need your help." Jackie declared.

The Forman's surrogate son kept his eyes on his wife, "No, we don't."

Jackie whipped her head to look to her right and at Hyde, "Yes, we do."

"No, we don't, Jackie." he argued firmly, his focus still on Jackie; in fact it was almost as if the Formans weren't even in the room as the argument that had obviously been going on long before they came into the kitchen, continued to rage on, "We're adults, Jackie. We're gonna have a kid and be parents ourselves, we can't always come running to the Formans whenever we have a problem."

"Oh Steven, don't be silly." Kitty scolded slightly, "No matter how old you are, you can always come to Red and me for help with any kind of problems you kids are having. Right, Red?"

Much like Hyde's frown, Red's scowl grew deeper as he barked out, "No."

"Red." His wife said with her own glare and warning tone.

Red sighed before grumbling, "Fine."

While Kitty smiled at her husband's agreement, Jackie stood there looking in on the scene in awe.

"See Steven, why can't you be like that and just agree with everything I say?" Jackie demanded to know.

Her question earned her the sight of Hyde rubbing his temples, a deepened and angry scowl from Red, and a head shake from Kitty.

"Oh Jackie, honey, you can't expect Steven to quickly agree to everything you say. You two have only been married two years." She reminded before shaking her head negatively once more, "No, no, no, getting him to do that, takes years of training."

The irritated look that Red had been directing towards Jackie, shifted over to Kitty and stayed there for several seconds before slowly he turned his head back to the couple standing in the middle of where he and Kitty were seated.

"Whatever damn thing this is all about, I'm on Steven's side."

With a smirk on his face, Hyde gave an appreciative nod to his adopted father before dropping into the seat beside the man. Meanwhile his expectant wife didn't look all that happy with the announcement of this news.

"But Mr. Forman, I'm your favorite, remember?" she asked with a pout, "You're supposed to be on my side."

Red shrugged his shoulder and kept his eyes on Kitty as he spoke, "Guess my training wore off."

Having caught Red's eyes with her own, Kitty knew the comment was directed at her but she merely brushed it away with a shake of her hand a quick wave of her hand.

"Never mind any training talk." She said, hoping that would close the discussion after all these two had come in here for another—probably more serious—reason. Kitty turned her attention to the young woman standing beside her, "Jackie, honey, what did you need our help with?"

"Well," Jackie began to say, taking in a deep breath but it wasn't enough to keep her smile from breaking onto her face, "We have our baby's gender!"

Jackie's excitement instantly transferred over to Kitty as the older woman's jaw dropped open then soon turned into a beaming smile before she moved her own palm to joining Jackie's on the growing baby bump—letting out one of her genuinely happy Kitty Forman giggles.

"Oh honey, this is so exciting!" she said in an over the moon type of tone, "Which is it, Jackie? A girl? No, a boy? Oh what is it?"

"It's either one or the other, Kitty." Red quipped from the sidelines.

Kitty looked over at her husband and laughed at his joke but seconds later her attention was back on Jackie, looking at the younger woman with a kind of eagerness that could be found on a child's face Christmas morning. Jackie really couldn't help smile—she was glad at least someone was excited about all of this.

"So…?" Kitty asked again, she was obviously getting impatient, "I'm I getting a grandson or a granddaughter?"

"I don't know yet." came Jackie's reply and when she saw the puzzled scowl emerge on Kitty's forehead she knew she had some clearing up to do; she took in another breath, "See we have the sex of the baby but we don't know it yet. I had the doctor write it down on a piece of paper and stick it into this envelope."

To help with her explanation, Jackie lifted up the small envelope that Kitty hadn't noticed she had been holding earlier. It didn't look like the kind of envelope that bills or other boring mail came in, it looked more like the kind of envelope that were always exciting to find in the mail. Usually they held a special surprise like a birthday card, a letter, or a thank you note but from what Jackie said this envelope was holding something better than all those three things combined!

Slowly Kitty's smile began to reappear, "The answer is in that envelope? Oh this is just like those big fancy award shows!" she said with another excited laugh leaving her lips.

"Yeah," Jackie nodded but swiftly added the main part of the story, "But Steven doesn't wanna open it!"

"Neither does Jackie!" Hyde threw out with a finger pointed at his wife as soon as he felt his mother's eyes on him.

Red scowled at what he'd just heard, "Who the hell are you dumbasses waiting to open it? The baby?"

"No," Jackie shook her head at the balding man before turning her attention to his wife, the envelope still clutched in her hands, "The reason I didn't want to open the envelope was because I thought we should give it to you, Mrs. Forman."

Kitty placed her palm over her heart and her facial expression showed just how touched she was by the gesture, "Oh, that is so sweet." she said sounding close to tears for just a moment before she suddenly snapped out of it and snatched the envelope out of Jackie's grasp with a quick and demanding, "Gimme that."

As soon as the packet was in Kitty's own hands she immediately went to work on getting it open until Jackie placed a halting hand over her own.

"Mrs. Forman, you can't open that in front of Steven and me." she stated before explaining things a little further, "See I thought we could give you the envelope, you'd read it and see what our baby is gonna be but you don't tell anyone."

Hearing this Kitty's eyes widened a bit with worry; after all, keeping secrets especially happy and joyful exciting secrets was not one of the things Kitty Forman was known for. Jackie of course, noticed this and decided to continue on, hoping to settle Kitty's anxiousness so she could at least have someone on her side.

"But instead of telling anyone you get to make a cake that on the inside will tell us whether we're having a boy or a girl!" Jackie's tone changed to one that was used when bargaining with a small child to a tone that showed complete and absolute happiness.

And it looked like the happiness was contagious and Kitty's face quickly lit up, all worries forgot.

"Oh, oh! I saw that the other day on _Wake_ _Up_ _Wisconsin_." The older woman said and the younger girl nodded excitedly, "And it was just the cutest and most creative thing ever. What a great idea to do it too, Jackie!"

Jackie's smile was stretched from ear to ear and she turned from Kitty to Hyde, "See Steven, I told you it was a great idea!"

Looking quite unconvinced, unamused, and very Zen, Hyde shot out, "You just want an excuse to eat cake."

"I don't need an excuse to eat cake, Steven, I can eat cake whenever I want." She argued and placed her hand on her growing belly, "I'm pregnant."

With that said Jackie knew she had won that discussion and she turned her attention back to Kitty so that the two of them could talk more about this gender revealing cake and how great of an idea it was for Jackie to want to do it. Meanwhile as the women went on with their chattering, the men sat in silence watching them but it was Hyde who ended up shaking his head at the scene before them.

"That's been her excuse for everything lately." He shared with his adoptive father who merely smirked, "The other day she kicked Fez off the sofa and stole his popsicle, tellin' him she could do it cuz she's pregnant."

Red chuckled at the story, "Get used to it son. After she has the kid she'll use the excuse of 'because I'm a mother.'"

Hyde appreciated the advice that the older and experienced man shared with him. It did sound like something Jackie could very well begin doing after their child was born, but that didn't mean he liked it. However, that was still months away and right now he was still having to deal with this gender cake thing that he really wasn't looking forward to. He looked over at the still prattling duo.

"Mrs. Forman, I don't want you going through all that trouble." He said and just as Kitty opened her mouth to protest against his words, Hyde continued on, "Jackie'll probably end up eating the paper before we get a chance to read it."

Jackie glared at her husband, "You don't stick a paper in the cake, Steven. It's not a fortune cookie."

"Jackie's right, sweetie." Kitty informed with a nod and then went on to elaborate some more of the details, "You see it's the inside of the cake, the breading that tells the gender of the baby. We could do chocolate for a boy and vanilla for a girl or vise versa." She said, whooshing her hands happily before getting a new idea, "Oh! Or I could use some food color and add it to the vanilla batter. I could make blue for a boy and pink for a girl!"

"Oh let's do that one! Can we do that one?" asked the bubbling Jackie.

"Of course!" Kitty replied and soon let out a keyed up giggle before looking at the pair of husbands, "Oh this is going to be so much fun, don't you think?"

Red showed how interested he was in the whole idea by moving his attention back to his lunch while Hyde expressing his interest with words, well word.

"No." he said straight forwardly causing Kitty's smile to flatten and Jackie's to turn into a frown.

"Ugh, don't listen to him." Jackie instructed Kitty, getting the older woman's attention once again, "He doesn't wanna find out the baby's gender at all."

This new piece of information came as a shock to Hyde's surrogate parents. His mother figure's head quickly shot back to looking at him, her eyes wide with surprise. His father's surprise wasn't as obvious but he had turned to look at him with a sort of frown that was usually reserved for Eric when he did something really stupid or Kelso on any day.

"You're a dumbass." Red told Hyde before glancing over at the standing brunette, "Jackie, I'm back on your side."

"Yay!" Jackie squealed happily with her chipper hand clap.

Hyde knew that Red joining Jackie's side of the argument meant he was now on his own and while he wasn't thrilled about it, he wasn't worried either. He could handle this by himself plus he figured if he worded the next part of his thoughts right, he wouldn't be on a one man team for long.

"It's not that I don't wanna find out what our kid's gonna be, I just don't see what the point is." He began to explain to the older couple, his words had already been said to Jackie on the car ride over, "It's not gonna make it come any earlier, it's not gonna do anything but get us either an overload of blue or pink stuff. I don't see a problem of letting the kid decide what they like."

Jackie rolled her eyes, her husband had been spending too much time with Donna, "Steven, our daughter will not be a tomboy. And our son…if he has girly things growing up he could turn into Eric!"

"She's got a point." confirmed Red with a nod of his head.

However the argument didn't sway Hyde and he stayed on his own side of things, giving a shoulder shrug before speaking up again.

"Look, I just think this gonna be one of the biggest surprises in our life," he said his blue shaded eyes focusing on meeting his wife's, "There's no need to rush it, right Mrs. Forman?"

He looked over at the woman who had suddenly become quiet during this part of the conversation but he figured if anyone would side with him on wanting things to be as surprise it would be the woman who loved nothing more but throwing surprise parties—even when, _and_ _especially_ _when_, they weren't wanted.

Kitty appeared a bit nervous, "Well…"

The single word caught Hyde off guard. 'Well?' He never got a 'well' from Mrs. Forman especially not in that tone. His head lifted up to look over at Kitty but found that she was already walking closer to the seat he was residing in, her smile more sympathetic rather than the happy kind she had been sharing with Jackie moments before.

"Steven, honey, I think it's very sweet that you want to wait until the baby is born to find out whether you and Jackie are having a boy or a girl" She told him, placing a motherly hand on his upper arm, "But finding out the sex of the baby before it's born is a bit more practical. And you could start referring to a baby as a 'he' or a 'she' not just an 'it.' And that makes things feel more real!"

A giggle escaped Kitty's lips after that statement and she seemed to have missed the hard swallow made by Hyde as she went on with what she had to say.

"And finding out what the baby is going to be before the birth won't take any of the magic or beauty of out that delivery room." The nurse and mother assured both of the soon to be parents, "Oh and finding out the baby's gender before the birth really can be exciting and so much fun."

"Did you find out what you were having when you were pregnant?" Jackie wanted to know.

"Yes, we did." Kitty said while smiling and nodding, "Of course, when I was pregnant we didn't have all these new fancy schmancy gizmos you have, so we had to use a different method to tell us the baby's gender."

Hyde was curious, "What different method?"

"A lucky guess."

Kitty glared at her husband for the comment he'd made, "It was not a lucky guess. It was more than that. It was…an old wives tale, _that_ _worked_!" she made sure to point out before there was another interruption, "I remember my sister Paula came to do it because she said she had the gift for doing the test and getting the correct results. But of course, we all knew it was really something she was going through to help find her true self."

"Yeah, that was during her gypsy phase." Red recalled.

"No, no, no." Kitty shook her head but her smile stayed in place, "Not gypsy. Fortune teller."

Red didn't seem to think there was a difference between the two as he said, "All I remember is her wearing a bunch of those weird colored head scarves."

"Anyways," The older woman said, bringing the conversation back to her story, "to find out whether we were going to have a boy or a girl Paula came over to do the ring on the string test."

"The ring on the string test? What's that?" Jackie asked as she settled into a seat at the table, no longer able to stand the pain in her lower back.

"It's where the pregnant woman puts her wedding ring on a string and then you hold the string over her stomach with the ring dangling from it." Kitty explained the steps, remembering them from her own experience, "And the way that the ring on the string swings tells what your baby is gonna be!"

Hyde smirked, "What'd the ring do with Laurie? Swing into three number sixes?"

"How'd you like me to swing my foot into your ass?" Red asked, clearly not as amused by the joke as Hyde's wife was.

Meanwhile Kitty frowned but not because of what Hyde had said, though his words did help her recall this new detail, "You know come to think of it, we didn't find out with Laurie, we had her be a surprise. And she had been just full of surprises since!" she ended with a nervous laugh escaping her lips.

"You see Steven," Jackie said with big eyes, "Isn't that enough to change your mind and not have our baby be a surprise _like Laurie_."

"Nope." He said with a smug smirk that just made his wife roll her eyes.

"Oh I remember the day we did the ring on the string test with Eric like it was yesterday." Kitty spoke with her smile becoming bigger and bigger, it was evident that a story was coming on, "I was about seven months along and Laurie had just turned two a few months before. Paula came had come over and…Oh Red's brother Marty was here too. Remember Red?"

"Yeah," Red confirmed grimly, "Even back then this house was filled with people who didn't live here."

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_**Author's Note: **__So what did you think? Yay? Nay? A mix of the two? Do you wanna read more? Be sure to let me know in a review!_

_I really do hope that you all liked this first chapter, there's still more to come! Also just a little reminder to those who don't know or may forget this Sunday Kurtwood Smith's new show Resurrection premieres on ABC. You'll have to check your local listings for times and such but just thought I'd throw it out there as a little reminder I know I'm looking forward to seeing him on TV again. :D_

_Until next time, thanks for reading, hope you liked, please review and lemme know what you think, stay tuned, take care, and have a nice day!_


	2. Chapter 2

_**Disclaimer: **__I own nothing!_

_**Author's Note: **__Hello everyone! How are you all? Hope you're doing well and having a great week! Today I have for you the second chapter of "Baby Cakes" And right on time! Yay! A couple of things though before I start the chapter. First off this chapter is longer than the first, sorry. I love writing flashbacks plus I felt like we kinda needed some more interactions with Marty and Paula with Red and Kitty instead of just going straight to the test. Also I'm sorry if Marty and Paula are OOC, I did my best but they only appear in one episode each and in few fanfics. And finally, thank you for all of the AMAZING support that you've given this story so far. I am so very happy that you all have enjoyed the first chapter and I hope you enjoy this next chapter too! All the alerts, adds, and reviews…they have just meant so, so much to me. Thank you! And a big thank you again to Marla's Lost for not only the great title help but for helping me find Paula's voice. Thanks Marla! And thank you again to you wonderful readers for stopping by to read this story. I really do hope you all like it, please review if you can, I'd love to hear your thoughts, and as always, Enjoy!_

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_1960_

"Mommy!" the little voice cried and grunted as a chubby little arm reached towards the center of the kitchen table where the little one's father and uncle were seated, "Mommy!"

The woman who now went by 'Mommy' approached the little girl with a smile on her face and hand over her round and still growing belly.

"Oh Laurie, honey, do you want a cookie?" she asked but waited for no answer before grabbing chocolate chip cookie off the plate and handing it to her daughter, "Here you are, sweetie."

After taking the cookie Laurie looked up at her mother and tried to look extra cute, not that she really needed that extra help; she already had those little blonde baby curls and big blue eyes. She looked very much like her mother but still had plenty of her father in her too.

"And baby too?" she asked pushing out her bottom lip and lifting up the baby doll in her arms for her mother to see.

Kitty smiled at the sight of the little plastic baby being offered to her. It really was a cute little doll, with her pink little dress, blonde faux hair, and blue eyes that opened and closed. The doll had been gift to Laurie from her parents and it seemed like since the moment she got the doll, Laurie had been inseparable from it, taking it with her everywhere she went and treating it like a real baby. Of course Kitty thought it was adorable and hoped that kind of behavior would be transferred over to the real baby that would be arriving in a few months.

"And one for baby too." Kitty agreed before handing Laurie a second cookie.

Laurie grinned, "Tank yoo!"

"You're welcome." replied Kitty, proud over the fact that her daughter had remembered her manners.

Since there was nothing else to say, she'd gotten what she'd wanted, Laurie giggled and scampered off to her play area that had been set up in the area between the counter and sliding doors of the kitchen—her baby doll secure under her left arm. The three pairs of eyes followed her movements making two smiles emerge but not a third.

"She's going to eat both of those cookies." The younger man seated at the table stated out loud.

The comment made Red Forman (with a head full of hair) shift his eyes away from his child and towards his brother, his grin no longer able to be found, "And here we thought the doll was gonna come to life and eat the thing."

While Kitty couldn't help but crack a smile the comeback, though she did try to hide it by giving her husband a quick smack on his shoulder, Marty Forman merely stared at the couple, clearly not seeing the statement as entertaining as they did.

"If you let a child get away with things when they're young, once they grow up they'll think they can get away with even more." He explained to them.

"Well," Kitty gave a polite if not a bit awkward smile, "isn't that interesting?"

She let out a small laugh and then went back to fixing a tray of snacks; meanwhile Red looked at his brother as if he'd suddenly turned into a kangaroo.

Marty nodded, "And you know, Kitty, they also say you shouldn't give a child the object they're reaching for unless they attempt to say it's correct name." he continued on, "It helps expand their vocabulary and social skills."

"Who's 'they,' Marty?" Red asked with a scowl.

"'They' is referring to the writers of the baby books that I'm reading." The younger brother answered, "I just finished one that talked about…"

Interrupting the explanation that seemed to only raise more questions, Red had to know, "What are you doing reading baby books, Marty?" he questioned, then scoffed slightly, "Finished reading those books of poems?"

"No, I'm still read _and_ _writing_ my poetry, Red." Marty informed, adding on, "But I've also started reading a few child rearing books."

"Why?" Red grimaced; he hadn't even read any of those damn books but Kitty did have a growing stack on her nightstand.

A shrug came from the blonde man, "These kids are as much mine as they are yours, Red."

Now Red was not only confused by his brother's words but upset by them too.

"What the hell are you talking about?" he demanded to know.

Kitty's eyes went wide at hearing a certain h-word, "Red!"

Hearing his wife's scolding tone caused confusion to be added to his already angry scowl as he turned to look at her, being met with her warning eyes. Red was about to ask her, 'What?' when he suddenly realized his mistake. He gave sigh that unwrinkled his forehead and turned to look behind him.

"Sorry, sweetheart." He spoke in a softer tone to his daughter who hadn't even been paying much attention to anything but her tasty treat; as soon as the apology was made, his scowl reappeared just as upset as before and the gentle tone had been turned up a quite a few notches, "What're you talking about, Marty?"

"Red, you and I are brothers. We're family." Marty said wearing a soft smile.

"Don't remind me."

The gripe only made Marty's grin grow as he went on, "You and Kitty having kids is adding to your family which is also my family. They'll be carrying on my legacy just as much as they will yours." he explained, "And that's why it shouldn't just be the parents raising the child but the whole family. That's the way they do it in many other cultures. It really helps build a strong family bond."

"I think that is a very sweet sentiment, Marty." Kitty said, slowly approaching the two men, "Don't you think, honey?"

"No." Red was swift to reply, looking at his brother like his kangaroo form had suddenly sprouted wings.

"Well I think it is." The pregnant woman told her husband, "And it's exactly why I wanted Marty to be here while Paula's here. I want Laurie and this little one in here," her palm rubbed her tummy, "to know that they are surrounded by a loving and supportive family environment."

He looked up at her, "Then why didn't you invite our parents over, too?"

Kitty's smile flattened as she looked down at him, "I said loving and supportive not hurtful and judgmental."

A smirk stretched onto Red's lips at her response. He'd known it was coming. Visits from either of their parents always seemed to stress Kitty out, in fact after just mentioning them he could feel the muscles of her lower back tense up under his hand and so he began to gently rub the area. Truth was he was glad she hadn't invited them either, he was still wasn't too keen on the idea of having their siblings here.

"You know Kitty, you should really be careful with what you say about other family members and even the tones you uses. Little pitchers have big ears, including this little one." shared Marty, placing his hand on Kitty's stomach, "It could lead to them having tense relationships with those family members too. That's something else the books say."

By now Red had had enough of all this book talk, "Did those books also where I was gonna shove my foot?"

"No," a slightly frightened Marty shook his head, "But I think I can probably guess."

The corners of Red's mouth moved up higher causing his grin to grow. He was glad that even though they were older and their age differences didn't seem so great anymore, he still knew how to handle to the role of the older brother. However, his proud smile started to diminish as he watched his wife waddle away from him, her worried eyes glued onto the face of her wristwatch.

"Kitty…" he called to her.

"Paula should've been here fifteen minutes ago, Red." Kitty informed, not needing her husband to voice his question, "What's taking her so long?"

"Kitty, this is your sister, you know how she is." He reminded her, hoping to settle her nerves, "She's never on time for anything."

"That is true." Kitty had to admit, then felt her lips twitch into a smile, "I guess I'm just eager for her to get here so we can do that string test and find out what are little bundle is going to be." she finished with an excited giggle as her palms rubbed her growing tummy.

Pushing himself out of his seat and giving out a small groan, Red walked towards where Kitty was standing, "Kitty, do we really have to do this st…silly test?"

While Kitty was happy that this time he remembered to watch his language, she still wasn't too thrilled with his attitude towards the test.

"It is not a silly test, Red." She argued though her voice lost its fight as she continued, "It may not be the most accurate either but it'll be fun. It'll be like a magic show! As long as you believe and don't go peeking behind the curtains, you'll have a good time!" she assured with a bright smile. "Besides Paula wants to do it and it'll make her happy which will make me happy."

Red knew he couldn't try to put an end to this now, "Alright."

"Thank you." she said with a tight smile.

Kitty then stretched her right arm up to wrap it behind Red's neck to pull him down towards her, since these days it took a lot more strength to push herself up on her tiptoes. Red got her signal and leaned down till his lips met hers in a kiss. It was a kiss that was soft and sweet but also one that was interrupted unexpectedly when Kitty pulled herself away.

"Oh!" she cried, her face full of surprise before changing into one of pure bliss, "I think you made someone else very happy."

As Kitty grabbed his hand, Red's brows furrowed into a frown that remained in place as she moved the hand onto the side of her swollen belly but as soon as he felt something press up against his palm his scowl turned into an awestruck kind of grin. After all it wasn't just a something pressing against his hand, it was his child.

Not being able to hold in the happy laugh as she watched the amazement on her husband's face, Kitty spoke again, "And who knows, maybe you'll get swept up in the magic of it all too."

"Yeah, maybe," Red agreed, never taking his hands nor his eyes off the baby bump.

_Ding-Dong!_

"That must be Paula!" Kitty squealed eagerly, instantly having recognized the chime of the front doorbell, "Red, honey could you go let her in? I'll be right there."

The ringing of the doorbell appeared to have not only broken the silence in the room but also the tender moment Red had been having with his unborn child, and he didn't look to be very happy about that. "Why does she have to ring the doorbell? Can't she just let herself in?"

"Now Red, you know you would only get annoyed if people were coming into our home unannounced and not ringing the doorbell." His wife said with a smile that reminded Red of how well she knew him.

"No I wouldn't." he argued back, "It would save me the time from having to get up and answer the door."

Kitty shook her head but before she could say another word the other important girl in Red's life spoke up.

"Daddy!" the blonde haired little girl called, one arm extending up for him while the other remained clutching onto her baby doll, "Up Daddy up!"

"Well now see, you have a little helper to help you let Paula in." Kitty said as she watched Red scoop their little girl into his arm.

From her father's arms, Laurie smiled at her mother (she really did like the view from up her) and showed her her doll, "Baby!"

Touching her daughter's chubby cheek, Kitty giggled, "Make that two little helpers."

"I can be the third helper." Marty volunteered, already on his feet and ready to go.

Not looking as happy as his brother and Red gave a dry, "Great." before disappearing behind the swinging door and into the living room taking Laurie with him in his arms and Marty remaining close behind them.

When they entered the living room the doorbell rang for a second time and while Marty stayed in the seating area of the room, Red and Laurie—along with Laurie's baby doll—headed straight for the front door. Still holding Laurie in his right arm, through by now she'd hidden her face in his neck, Red used his free hand to open the door and reveal a familiar smiling face.

"There's my favorite brother-in-law!" the dark haired woman with the purple and green head scarf covering the top of her head, cried happily with open arms before pulling Red into a hug.

Red scowled a bit as he reminded, "I'm your only brother-in-law, Paula."

"Doesn't mean you have to be my favorite." She said moving out of the hug and pointing her index finger straight at him, her teasing look transformed into a small frown, "Um Red, it looks like you've got a little something on your shoulder there. Here I'll help you get it off…"

Paula then moved her hands to the little bump on her brother-in-law's shoulder. Of course, she not only knew that the little lump was her niece but she was ready to tickle the little girl until she was forced to come out of her hiding; but before she had even touched her, the little girl's head popped off her father's shoulder.

"Antie Pawa!" Laurie cheered with a smile that right away made Paula's own smile appear.

"Oh it's you little Laurie!" she said in an overly surprised but genuinely happy tone of voice, "Or should I say little cutie!"

Opening her arms towards Laurie, Paula signaled to Red that she wanted to hold the two year old and without hesitation Red handed off Laurie, and her doll, over to the beaming Aunt Paula.

"Look at you! You're getting bigger and prettier every time I see you!" Paula gushed to her niece, the two wearing matching smiles; she then looked over at Red, "She's gonna break a lot of hearts when she grows up."

"Baby!" squealed Laurie as she brought her baby doll into Antie Pawa's view.

The woman's mouth formed into a small 'o' shape, "Oh! You're mommy didn't tell me you had a baby! Well let's see her." Carefully took the doll into her own arms almost as if it were a real baby and soon began talking in a tone that one would use around a new baby.

"Oh she is beautiful, Laurie. And you know the best part about her is she won't be crying and pooping all night like you did the last time I looked after you." she teased before suddenly driving her hand towards Laurie's little belly in a joyful manner.

Soon the music like sounds of Laurie's little laughs and squeals filled the air as Paula tickled her into a fit of giggles. Both the sight and sounds of the scene made the adults in the room smile. As Paula slowly stopped the motions of her fingers, Laurie calmed her laughter but her smile stayed in place and before she could be handed back to her father or placed on her feet, she had one more thing to tell her aunt.

"Cany?"

"Cany." Paula repeated, a small frown having made an indention on her forehead, "Cany…cany…cany. I knew there was something I forgot!" she said not sounding too sad but her pout was enough to tell Laurie this wasn't good news and the little girl made her own pout with her tiny lips.

"Would you take one of these instead?" she offered, reaching into a pocket of her teal colored purse that matched perfectly with her long flowy skirt and pulling out a large gold coin.

Laurie frowned at this foreign object that her aunt held in front of her. She didn't know what it was exactly but she did like the way it shined. Her confusion only grew though when she watched the woman peel away the shinny cover and reveal a brown colored substance. Paula broke off a piece of the object and moved it towards Laurie's mouth. After seeing Paula open her own mouth, Laurie did the same and Paula placed the treat inside. Immediately Laurie's eyes sparkled with joy, it tasted like…

"Cany!"

"Yeah, that's right." Paula said with a grin, nodding her head as she handed to candy to Laurie.

Looking at the chocolate coin in her hand, Laurie was struck with another idea, "Baby too!"

Paula had to laugh as she saw the little doll be lifted up into view again and really who could say no to two little faces like that?

"And baby too." agreed Paula as she dug into her pocket for a second coin and handed that one over to Laurie too.

Once the two candies had been given, Paula placed the little girl on her feet before she could fish for anymore coins which would really get her in trouble with her sister. However, the smile on her nieces face as she dashed off to where Red was seat on the left armrest of the couch, Paula figured it would be worth it.

"Laurie, what do you say?" Red's booming voice reminded.

Still scurrying off to him and never looking back at her aunt, Laurie called out, "Tank yoo!"

"You're welcome, angel," came Paula's reply.

"Too much candy really isn't good for children. It not only makes them hyperactive but it rots their teeth." said the man in the room who until now had been silent, "And even though these baby teeth fall out eventually, children still need to learn how to take care of them. It'll help them have proper oral health when their adults."

Paula blinked her eyes in amazement at the man who's just spilled out this bout of information while Red just looked annoyed.

"Paula, you remember my brother," Red started to reintroduce the two, "The Walking Encyclopedia of Babies."

"Oh yeah, sure." Paula nodded looking at Red before turning her head back to Marty as she began to step towards, "Yeah, we met at their wedding right? Although I think you were going by a shorter name back then, something along the lines of 'Marty' or another. I like this new one better. It rolls off the tongue easier."

While Red chucked at the joke Marty simply smiled at the bohemian dressed woman with a rather large grin on his face.

"Oh Paula!" he said before throwing his arms around Kitty's sister and catching her off guard.

After struggling a bit to move even her neck, Paula looked over her shoulder at Red, "Oh that's right…he's a hugger!"

"I am just so glad that you're here. I was just telling Red and Kitty how important it is for growing children to be around their family." Explained Marty, still holding the younger woman in a tight grip, "And it's just as important for us too. They are our legacy, our future."

A gracious smile crept onto Paula's lips the moment Marty release her and she couldn't help but turn to Red and ask, "He's related to you?"

"That's what our mother says." Red answered.

With that same smile on his face, Marty looked at the duo this time shaking his head, "He can grumble all he wants but I know he loves me, he just has trouble showing and expressing it." he explained to Paula before adding, "Our father never really hugged us."

Looking skywards Red groaned, "Oh jeeze…"

"Dumass!" declared little Laurie.

"Now that one," Paula said referring and pointing at the princess with chocolate smeared on her lips and cheeks, "I know is related to you."

Red smirked a bit proudly, "Yeah. Just don't tell Kitty. We've got different opinions on what words Laurie says are cute and not cute."

"My lips are sealed!" Confirmed Paula before she mimed a zipper over her lips; then she suddenly realized there was someone missing from the room, "Now where is my big sister?"

"Here I come!" called a familiar voice from behind the swinging door.

A moment or two later the door was pushed open and Kitty waddled into the room holding in each of her hands a tray of cheese and crackers, among other little snacks, and wearing a large smile on her lips. A matching smile came onto Paula's face as soon as she saw her sister. Red, however didn't look as happy and the second he saw Kitty enter the room he hurried to her side to take the trays out of her hands so that she not only had the opportunity to welcome her sister but so she wouldn't have to carry trays herself. They weren't very heavy at all but still, carrying trays of food wasn't something a woman in Kitty's condition should be doing.

"Oh Kitty!" Paula cried as she grabbed Kitty's hand with her own and drawing her into a quick hug, "When I said big sister I meant big sister not _big_ sister." She joked and made sure to add, "I'm kidding!"

Kitty was laughing anyways as she continued to hold Paula's hand and the two sisters headed towards the floral printed sofa.

"You look gorgeous." Paula continued on, "You're beautiful. You're glowing. You're..."

"Fat." Kitty finished for her as she carefully dropped herself onto the couch.

"Yeah. But it's the good kind of fat." Her sister was swift to remind, "The kind of fat that'll take care of you in your old age."

The sisters shared a laugh while Paula took a seat beside Kitty.

"So how are you feeling?" she asked, taking her turn to rub the growing tummy of Kitty's.

"Well," Kitty gave a small sigh, "I'm tired, sore, and bloated. So to answer your question," A smile crawled onto her lips, "I feel wonderful. I'm just so excited!"

Paula grinned right along, "Of course you're excited, you're gonna have another little baby in the house!"

"Baby!" Laurie sprung into the conversation with that baby doll of hers.

"Oh excuse me, I mean _two_ babies in the house." Paula corrected herself, smiling at the blonde child before turning to her mother, "This baby thing…there's purpose to it right?"

Smiling softly, Kitty nodded her head before beginning the explanation, "It's supposed to help Laurie get used to the idea of having a new baby in the house. It teaches her she that needs to be gentle with the baby and give to it extra love. It'll help her be a good big sister. Right, sweetie?"

Laurie felt her mother run her fingers through her hair and heard her call her but all she did in return was flash her a bright smile before she tightly hugged her doll close to her.

"It was my idea." Informed Marty with a proud smile.

"Really? I never would've guessed." Paula told Marty, though was sharing a smile with Red as she spoke the words.

Marty didn't appear to have noticed the smiles, he may have just been too focused on his next question, "Can you really tell if the baby's gonna be a boy or a girl?"

"Oh sure!" replied a confident Paula, "Nine out of the ten times I've done this I've been right."

"What happened the tenth time?" Red wondered out loud.

"Turned out it wasn't a baby, just a few too many jelly doughnuts." She explained the story of what happened and her grinned appeared again as she asked, "So what're you folks hoping for? A boy or a girl?"

Kitty looked up at Red, who was now seated on the right arm of the sofa next to her, they exchanged a quick look before Kitty turned back to her sister, "I don't think we're rooting for one more than the other. If we have another girl that would be wonderful, it would give Laurie a little sister. And sisters are nice to have, most of the time." she said teasingly as she squeezed Paula's hand who squeezed back, "But it would be just as wonderful to have a little boy to fuss over. And then we would have both a daughter and a son."

"The America Dream Family." Paula said with a smile then looked at her brother-in-law, "What about you Red, you wanting someone to carry on the Forman family name?"

Red shrugged a bit, "Sure, why not? But boy or girl it doesn't really matter. I'll be happy as long as the kid's happy and healthy."

He ended his statement with a smirk and his words earned him two smiles and a long dragged out 'Awww!' that did not have the most feminine sounding voice—this made Red's smirk fall into a flat frown.

"And they don't take after their Uncle Marty." He added in.

"Well I may not be able to find out about the Uncle Marty gene," Paula started to say, "_but_ I can tell you what the baby's gonna be, if you're ready."

Surprise was painted onto Kitty's face, "Now?"

"Yeah, sure it won't take very long." She assured.

However it was Red's assurance that Kitty seemed to need and she quickly glance up at him with nervous eyes. Red could see her anxiousness and so he gave he nodded his head reassuringly and gave her a small smile that made her larger one reappear.

"Okay." Kitty nodded to her sister.

"Okay!" the dark haired woman echoed as she stood up from her seat and began to give out instructions, "Now Kitty you lay down here on the sofa and give me your wedding ring."

Kitty decided to give Paula her ring first since she knew it would be the harder task of the two. It had been awhile since Kitty had taken off her wedding ring and the slight swelling of her fingers thanks to her pregnancy was not going to be any help. After a few moments, Kitty managed to get the gold band off her finger and handed it to her sister who'd just pulled out a piece of red string from her purse. Then Kitty, with Red's help, moved onto the next task of lying out on the sofa.

As Paula threaded the string through the wedding ring she caught sight of the caring and loving husband Kitty said—and she always knew—Red could be. He carefully helped her position herself onto her back and even placed a small throw pillow above the armrest Kitty had her head against to make it more comfortable. In a faint voice he made sure she was comfortable and it wasn't until Kitty gave him a nod and a smile that he bent down on one knee behind her head. It was a scene that made Paula smile.

With her materials ready, she approached the couple, "Okay, Mommy and Daddy, you ready?"

"Oh Red, get Laurie. I want her to see this too." Kitty said looking up at her husband.

"Alright." Red nodded and looked around the room for their daughter who had at some point wander off, luckily not too far and just up to the pile of her toys near the bookcases, "Come 'ere, Kitten."

Not having to be called twice, Laurie ran to her daddy—her doll of course being drug along. Red grinned as he caught her then picked up and placed her on his knee that was bent up in front of him so that she could have a good view too. Though apparently he and Laurie weren't the only ones trying to get a good seat; Marty had joined the family around the sofa bent on both knees and looking as excited as a kid on Christmas morning. Red heaved a sigh but said nothing else mostly because Kitty had chosen that moment to take his free hand in hers.

"Alright, now remember if the ring swings back and forth it means it's a boy. If it swings in a circle we've got a girl." Paula informed them all once more, "Ready, here we go!"

Keeping a steady hand, Paula slowly lowered the string over Kitty's belly until her ring was just a few inches away from the bump. All eyes were on the piece of jewelry but it was Kitty who spoke first.

"Paula, Paula it's not moving." She said in a shaky voice and squeezed Red's hand already fearing the worst, "What's wrong? Is something wrong with the baby…"

The younger sister placed a calming hand on the older's shoulder, "Kitty, Kitty relax. It's okay. It takes awhile for it to start moving sometimes. Just give it a minute it'll start moving in no time."

Almost as soon as Paula finished saying this the ring started to make its weak swinging movements and they were not missed by anyone. Eyes lit up in wonder at the sight and even the skeptical Red leaned in closer to make sure he didn't miss a thing.

"Okay here we go!" Announced Paula as she watched the swinging moments carefully, though they were getting more and more prominent, "It's moving. It's swinging back and forth….back and forth…it's gonna be a boy!"

Kitty right away looked up at Red and squeezed his hand again, this time out of joy, "Oh Red, we're having a boy!"

"Yeah." Red said, his voice soft with amazement, before giving a kiss to the side of Kitty's head.

"Wait a minute folks, it looks like we're having a bit of turbulence here." Paula stated, her eyes following the new circular motions of the ring on the string, "We're moving in a circle now…circle means girl."

"Another girl!" cried Kitty, sounding just as overjoyed as she did when she thought she was having a boy, "Oh Red."

Red's smile stayed in place as he brought Kitty's hand to his lips and gave it a quick peck, "We'll have two little girls."

"It's swinging back and forth!" Marty pointed out while literally pointing at the string that was swinging back in its first motions.

Paula's head nodded confirmation as she too watched the movement closely, "Yup, back and forth, it's gonna be a boy!" the words left Paula's lips and the ring went back to making a circle shape in the air, "Or a girl."

Both Red and Kitty scowled at what they were all seeing, the ring swinging one way only to swing the other way moments later. They had no idea what this would mean.

"Maybe she's having two of each." Marty shared his theory.

Scowl, wrinkled on his forehead, Red glared at his younger brother, "She's having a baby not a damn litter."

Marty shrugged, "Her name's Kitty."

"Marty…"

"Sshh! Shut it both of you!" Paula ordered the two brothers before a true argument—or at least Red arguing—could be had; she was watching the ring on the string very carefully as it start to once again swing from the direction towards Kitty's feet and then up to her face, "Kitty…"

Afraid that she cause another change of swings, Kitty nervously answered, "Uh huh?"

"Kitty it's swinging back and forth. Back and forth." Paula said, though Kitty was following there ring with her own widened eyes; it's left to right motions continued "It's still moving back and forth. Kitty, this it!"

Hearing this Red and Marty's enthusiasm picked back up and they went back to watching the performance of the test eager for the news of the final results.

"It's no question about it, Kitty," a large grin grew on Paula's face, "you're gonna have a boy!"

The next moments in the little family were filled with joy, excitement, cheers, and even a few happy tears.

"Oh Red, a boy." Kitty said to her husband, her eyes shining with those happy tears, "We're gonna have a little boy, a son!"

Red knew this test wasn't exactly legitimate but still, he couldn't help but smile at the news it had given them "Yeah, a son."

Kitty sat herself up and hugged her sister, "Oh thank you so much for doing this Paula, it was so much fun."

"It was my pleasure, Kitty." She assured with a grand smile, "And not I know I have to go shopping for my little nephew."

While the sisters giggled gleefully and his brother remained a bit lost in his thoughts, Marty turned to the littlest member of the family who had been strangely quiet through the whole event.

"Well Laurie, how do you feel about the news of getting a little brother?" he asked the little girl who was still seated on her father's knee.

Laurie stared at her uncle and then looked down at the baby doll in her arms; not more than two seconds later her tiny hand grabbed a fistful off the dolls hair before throwing it to the ground as hard as she could.

* * *

_**Author's Note: **__So what did you think? Thumbs up? Thumbs down? One of each? Do you want to read more? Lemme know in a review!_

_Sorry about the lack of JH in this chapter, but if I did add more it would've been a HUGE chapter so I decided to save it for the next! So you can bet your bottom dollar that they'll be in the next chapter. And in the meantime I have a little question for you all, inspired by my dear friend Nina. Thanks Nina!_

_What are you hoping will be the gender of Jackie and Hyde's baby? Keep in mind I haven't finished writing the third chapter yet so your comments could help influence how the next chapter will go! So along with your thoughts on the chapter, feel free to put what you're hoping Jackie and Hyde will have in your review!_

_Until next time, thanks for reading, hope you liked, please review and lemme know what you think, stay tuned, take care, and have a nice day!_


	3. Chapter 3

_**Disclaimer: **__I own nothing!_

_**Author's Note: **__Hello all! How are you? Hope you're doing well and had a very nice weekend. Today I have for you the next and final piece of "Baby Cakes" I am so very sorry fro not getting it up last week, it had been a crazy week with school stuff being thrown at me and then and my cousin who had helped inspire this story had her baby so we were all excited about that. Hope you all can forgive me for that. A couple of notes about this chapter, it is a little longer, but just a tad, than the last chapter. I thought about splitting it but then the final chapter would be too small and uneven so I kept it as a threeshot. Again, I hope you don't mind. Once again thank you so much for the amazing reviews and support you all have given the story, it means so very much! Hearing your thoughts from each of you has really made me smile. :D Thank You! A special thanks to those who gave their thoughts on the gender of JH's baby. Also a big thanks to Eliza Ghost for helping inspire me without even knowing it. And again a great big thank you to Marla's Lost for her help on the story's main title. And thank you to you readers who have stopped by to read this story, I really hope you enjoy it, please review if you can, I'd love to hear your thoughts, and as always, Enjoy!_

* * *

"And that was when we found out about our baby boy." Kitty said, bringing her story to an end; her eyes shining with tears while her smile beamed on her face as she went on a little more, "After that we started getting ready for our little boy. We went out and bought everything blue. Blue blankies, blue onesies, blue toys…Red even painted Eric's room blue, remember Red?"

"Yeah. Took me two days to paint that room." Informed Red with a smirk but as he continued, his smirk sunk into a frown, "Then sixteen years later my hard work gets covered up by posters of some dumbass in his pajamas and an oversized flashlight."

Hyde couldn't help but be amused by the burn Red Forman had given Luke Skywalker, he would have to remember that one for the next time Eric brought up the movie character—which would be something he wouldn't have to wait too long for. However, as Hyde thought about his friend, his mind went back to thinking about the story he'd just heard about him; and the new details that had just been shared were only making him more inquisitive.

"How'd you go out and buy stuff for a boy if you weren't even sure that's what you were gonna?" Hyde wondered out loud, "The ring test wasn't that accurate. Half the time it was swinging for a girl."

Before either of his adopted parents could speak, Hyde's wife spoke up with her own thoughts, "Wait a minute, how do we know the ring wasn't trying to say something when it spun in a circle? I mean we've all seen Eric, maybe the swings for a girl were trying to show you that Eric was gonna _swing like a girl."_

Jackie finished her statement with a small shrug of her shoulders, a gesture that soon copied by Red when he gave the loud one's words some thought. Kitty saw the actions by the two of them but only shook her head before looking back at Hyde to give him her answer.

"You're right, Steven, we didn't know for sure if we were having a boy and sometimes you can never really know until the baby's born." She told him, not sure if he knew this or not. "But the ring did swing for a boy more times than it did for a girl and Paula did think it was a boy. That's the part of the test that counts. And Red and I figured if we did end up having a girl we'd have some of Laurie's old hand-me-downs to hold us over for awhile."

The answer seemed to satisfy Hyde's curiosity as he nodded his head up and down, though his eyes were fixed downwards and away from Kitty's smiling face.

"Mrs. Forman, I thought it was a wonderful story, even if I wasn't in it at all." Jackie said to the older woman, her voice actually sounding sincere all the way through.

Kitty gave a little nervous laugh, "Well thank you, Jackie."

"Yeah, I liked it too." admitted Hyde a smirk now playing on his lips, "Nice to see where the whole Laurie vs. Forman thing started. Pretty cool to find out it started before Forman was even born."

A confused scowl was on the mother hen's face at hearing this, "Now what are you talking about? This is not when Laurie and Eric started their little squabbling. Why on earth would you think that?"

"Laurie threw her baby doll on the floor when she found out she was getting a brother." Jackie was quick to remind but as she said this she found that she could relate to the young girl in the story, but probably not the skank that she grew up to be, "But if I had a brother like Eric, I'd probably do the same thing."

"I'm surprised she didn't break off the dolls head." Hyde remarked, making Jackie nod in agreement and the elders in the room to frown.

"Well now you're just being _silly_." said Kitty while shaking her head lightly, "Laurie did not throw her doll on the floor because she was upset, she did it because she was happy."

No one looked too swayed over by Kitty's theory but that didn't stop her from going on.

"You see when Laurie heard she was getting a baby brother she was so excited she realized she didn't need that baby doll anymore because she was getting a real baby. And that's why she threw the doll the way she did." she told the nonbelievers ending with another small giggle. "It's the truth!"

The reasoning still wasn't enough to convince the others. Jackie's expression showed how she'd become bored with this topic of conversation, she already had to hear a story that didn't even mention her name, she was the pregnant lady here all conversations should be around her and her baby! Looking more skeptical than bored like Jackie, Hyde looked over at Red who just gave him his own look that said 'If it makes her happy, let her think what she wants.'

"And besides," Kitty continued on, "the little feuding between Laurie and Eric didn't start until they were older. When they were little they got along like two peas in a pod!"

Despite Kitty's cheerful voice and laugh, the others in the room looked more doubtful than before.

"Yeah, I'm gonna need to see some physical evidence to believe that one, Mrs. Forman." commented Hyde to his surrogate mother.

"Okay, then." she was quick to agree before looking at her husband, "Red, honey, go get those home movies we moved into the garage the other day."

Red remained in his seat as he shook his head negatively, "Kitty, I'm not going to get some old movies that take longer to set up than they do to watch." he argued, "And every time you finish watching them you get all weepy and mopey."

Kitty sent a glare across the table, "Well how can I not be weepy and mopey? Those babies on those films have grown up and left me!" she exclaimed, close to tears.

Hating to see his wife cry, Red moved his eyes from her and over to the young couple sitting between them.

"You know, we were having a nice day before you two showed up." He said, sounding more annoyed than actually angry.

Hyde merely gave Red a smirk, that made Red's frown deepen, while Jackie seemed to have completely ignored the comment as she swung her head to her left and at Kitty.

"So can you make us the cake, Mrs. Forman?" she asked, her tone hopeful; she obviously hadn't seen the two frowns being given behind her back.

"Oh of course, I can sweetie. The blue or pink one, right?" Kitty wanted to make sure they were on the same page and the brunette's nod confirmed it, "Great! And you know I was thinking since the food coloring goes in at the end anyways why don't you stay around and help me bake the cake? Then when it's time to add the color, I'll just shoo you out of the kitchen."

Jackie's eyes lit up at the idea of getting to make a cake for her baby, "Oh my God, really?"

"Well why not?" asked an excited Kitty, she too must not have seen the scowling pair of husbands.

Though Kitty's question was meant to be rhetorical, it had instead instantly planted the reminder of why Jackie would say no to this activity.

"I won't have to touch any icky eggs will I?" she voiced her concern with a wrinkled up nose.

Kitty let out another laugh and touched Jackie's hand understandingly, "Don't worry honey, I'll take on the icky egg duty."

"Yay!" Jackie cheered excitedly, "Oh I'm so glad that we're doing this, aren't you Steven?"

She turned her head towards her husband and at last saw the frown on his face that seemed to be even deeper than the one of Red's forehead.

"No." the father to be replied, "Jackie, I never said I changed my mind on this whole thing."

"You never said you didn't change your mind either." pointed out the still smiling Jackie.

Standing onto his feet, Hyde's expression did not look very amused, "I'm saying it now."

"But Steven, you heard the Forman's story. You even said you liked it!"

"Yeah, so? It doesn't mean it was enough to change my mind, Jackie." He said firmly, maybe a bit too firmly he realized when he heard a familiar small gasp; he gave a small sigh, "Mrs. Forman, it was a good story, really. But… it didn't make me wanna find out the gender of mine and Jackie's kid."

Kitty's silence told Hyde that she understood, or at least was trying to. However, the discussion that in reality had started before even entering the Forman house, was far from over.

"But Steven," Jackie repeated once more, "The Formans did it."

Hyde heaved out a heavy breath, "Jackie just because the Formans did it doesn't mean we've gotta do it. We're not the Formans."

"Steven!" Jackie said, shocked that he would say such a thing right in front of the couple who'd practically raised him.

"No," Hyde was quick to say when he realized his words may have been taken the wrong way, "I didn't mean it like that."

He looked from one side of the table to the other. On his right was Red who was looking straight at him with a scowl indented on his forehead, something Hyde had been expecting to see, but on his left sat Kitty who looked puzzled by what he'd just said and that look filled him with guilt. And as much as he wanted to clear things up with the Formans there was something he needed to make clear to his wife first.

"Look Jackie, boy or girl, our baby's gonna be here in a few months," he reminded the young woman sitting in her seat still, "we've still got things to do and get ready. Things that are more important than making sure the nursery does or doesn't look like the inside of Hostess pink Sno Ball."

Jackie placed a protective hand on top of her belly, she didn't like her baby literally being in the middle of this, but what could she do?

She looked up at her husband, "The inside of a Hostess pink Sno Ball is brown and white. And whether we find out we're having girl or boy our baby's nursery is _not_ going to be brown and white!"

For a good few seconds Hyde just stood there, staring down at his wife. She was still insisting that they find out the gender and what's even worse is she didn't seem to acknowledge any of the things that he said, minus the parts on the Hostess Sno Ball. He wasn't sure how much more he could take and decided he wasn't willing to find out.

"I need some air." He muttered and then turned away.

Hyde pulled open the patio door and walked out of the kitchen towards to the driveway. The determined look that Jackie wore on her face faded into a sadder one as she watched him leave. She knew he just needed some time and space—at least that's what she was hoping—so she remained seated, rubbing her baby bump with both hand now.

"Jackie, sweetie," Kitty spoke softly, place a comforting hand on Jackie's arm, "Are you okay?"

The expectant mother looked up and nodded, "Mmm hmm. But now I have a craving for a Hostess pink Sno Ball."

Kitty gave her a sympathetic smile, remembering those days of pregnancy cravings all too well.

0o0o0o

Hyde took another shot.

He'd meant what he said when he said he needed some air; however, he couldn't bring himself to leave his pregnant wife behind. Sure, she would be in the company of two of the people he most trusted and in small town like Point Place, no matter where he went he wouldn't be too far away, but he just couldn't do it.

So he stayed nearby but outside. Outside on the Forman driveway to be precise. He'd found an old basketball and was shooting it over at the even older basketball hoop.

After catching the rebound from his last throw he tossed it back up in the air towards the hoop and it swooshed through the basket's net effortlessly—no help from others or even the backboard—then bounced onto the pavement once before flying into Hyde's waiting palms.

"Nice shot."

The voice coming from behind him caused Hyde to turn around and find Red Forman standing at the back patio. Hyde couldn't have looked at him for more than a few seconds before he looked away from Red and moved his attention back to his game.

"I don't wanna talk, Red." He said, already knowing why the older man was out there and wanting nothing to do with it.

"Good, because neither do I." came Red's reply, making Hyde turn back around in time to see the older man walking towards him, "Kitty sent me out here to look for those damn home movies."

Hyde nodded, that sounded like a reasonable and very believable story, it was certainly enough to convince Hyde that he was in the clear and could go back to shooting hoops. He then glanced down at the basketball spinning it in his hands a bit and bent his knees a tad but just before he could throw the ball in the air was an interruption of his concentration.

"And because you put the idea in her head, you're helping me look for the damn things." declared Red with a finger pointing straight at Hyde.

Knowing there was no point in arguing with the man, and he really didn't have much else to do, Hyde rolled the basketball off to the grass and followed Red to the open garage. Red led the way to a stack of cardboard boxes that were filled with old clothes, toys, family mementos, and other junk. The home movies had to be in one of these boxes.

Red bent down onto his left knee and picked out a box to begin his searching and then slid one towards Hyde, "Here. You check this one."

Without with question, the curly haired young man joined Red on the ground then pulled the box closer to him and opened it up, hoping the insides would be the home movies and they'd be done. It wasn't. Instead Hyde found old pieces of clothing and as he moved them around a bit to make sure the movies weren't hidden in there he found that several of the articles of clothing were in the size that only a baby could fit into. Hyde couldn't help but wonder if the older man had handed him this box on purpose, maybe in place of the talk he'd been expecting.

He'd been anticipating a talk from Red pretty much since the moment he decided to stay out on the driveway. He was sure that either Jackie, most likely Kitty, would push Red out the sliding door and probably lock it and not let either one of them into the house until they'd had one of those Ward and Wally Cleaver talks. And though Hyde definitely wasn't looking forward to the talk, he had prepared some things to say, even a few questions; but now it turned out there was no talk coming. This should've made Hyde happy and it did at first, until now when those thoughts and questions he'd prepared were now replaying over and over in his head as he and Red searched through the boxes in silence.

"Red, man," called out Hyde, hoping he sounded casual enough, "did you really wanna find out the gender when Mrs. Forman was pregnant with Eric?"

Looking up from his box, Red's eyebrows rose with interest, "I thought you didn't wanna talk."

"Right, yeah." Hyde said and nodded his head up and down until he was looking back into the box of clothes and straight at a set of pink baby footie pajamas.

"No, I didn't." Red suddenly said causing Hyde to lift his head again to see Red still looking into his box while going on with his story, "That was all Kitty. She's the one that called up my brother and her sister. She's the one that wanted to do the damn string test and find out if we were having a boy or a girl. I was perfectly fine waiting until she delivered to find out."

Hyde scowled a bit, this part hadn't been in the story he'd just heard in the kitchen.

As if reading Hyde's mind Red continued to speak, this time looking up and at him, "But I never said anything because like you know by now, _at least I thought you knew by now_, you don't cross a pregnant woman. Because you won't win."

"Guess I'm fighting a losing battle, huh?" asked Hyde, though he knew the answer.

"Afraid so, son." was the simple answer Red gave. There was a pause then he started to speak again, "But you know, I think you'd stand more of a fighting chance if you told Jackie the real reason why you don't wanna find out the kid's gender."

Zen intact, Hyde stared at the balding man, "I did tell her the real reason I don't wanna do this." He insisted then gave him a reminder, "I don't wanna force gender assigned colors and things on my kid. Let them decide what they like and don't like."

Red didn't need to have Hyde repeat his reasoning to him. He remembered the reason from earlier in the kitchen and if anything hearing it again only made him disbelieve Hyde's 'true' reason even more.

"Steven, I've known you since you were about five years old and for a good while now I've considered you one of my own. And just like with my own kids I can tell when you're lying. And right now, you're lying your ass off." he said sending Hyde a knowing smirk, "You don't wanna find out the gender of your kid because you wanna be able to get your baby girl a blue bear instead of a pink one. You don't wanna find out because you're scared."

"I'm not scared." Hyde argued.

An amused chuckle was heard before Red spoke again, "Oh yeah, you are."

Hyde frowned slightly, creating a small dent his Zen, and once Red's delight on the situation died down a bit he started his explanation.

"You know that once you and Jackie find out whether your baby is a boy or a girl you won't just be having a _baby_ anymore, you'll be having either a son or daughter." Red began to say, right away catching the younger man's attention and interest, "Babies are a lot of work, they cry, poop, and puke but it's all just a stage and eventually they grow up so you don't have to worry about things for too long. But a son or daughter are part of your life for the rest of your life. And if you're lucky for the next eighteen years you're the one who has to take care of them, provide for them, give them a home, food, clothes and everything in between. If you're not luckily you end up doing that for over those eighteen years. And you're not sure if you'll be able to do it, that's what scares you. _And_ _that's_ why you don't wanna find out what the kid's gonna be. Right?"

Red was looking at him with that knowing smirk back on his lips which made Hyde shake his head and look down in attempt to hide his own smirk. He knew this talking to was gonna happen one way or another.

"Yeah, something like that." he admitted and then looked back up at Red, "We only have nine months to get ready man, and now we're down to three. And I know from the moment we find out what we're having to the moment he or she's born Jackie's gonna be on a blue or pink shopping spree. She's gonna wanna prepare the nursery instead of preparing the important stuff."

A small moment of silence passed before Hyde decided to just get this out in the open.

"We're not ready to be parents, Red." He said after letting out a heavy sigh, "Jackie and me, we don't have that natural parental skill stuff Mrs. Forman and you have."

Lifting his chin up in an understanding manner, Red voiced his realization, "So that's what you meant by 'we're not the Formans' huh?"

"Yeah, I didn't mean anything negative by it, man. I wish we were like you and Mrs. Forman, it'd be a lot easier." Hyde shared with him, "Instead we're stuck with the parenting skills of Bud and Edna Hyde and Jack and Pam Burkhart."

This made Red frown, "Parenting isn't genetic, Steven. If it were I'd be doing a lot more than _threatening_ to throw my foot up Eric's ass anytime he does something stupid." He remarked sternly then shrugged a tad, "Besides your parents' crappy parenting style might turn out to help yours."

"Yeah, in the same way that Fez helps give out Halloween candy," muttered back Hyde.

"You joke about it now, but once you become a parent you're gonna wanna give your kid everything. Especially all the things you never had. I'm willing to bet that as soon as that kid is born you and Jackie are gonna give it all the love and attention your parents never gave you."

Hyde had never really thought about it that way but it was true. While the Formans showed him how parenting should be done Bud and Edna showed him how it shouldn't be done. He and Jackie were just going to have to find that in between, and hopefully a little closer towards the Formans' side.

"And you know, Kitty and I weren't always _the Formans_." Red continued on, "There was a time when we were just Kitty and Red, new parents—just like you and Jackie'll be in a few months. And we didn't become _the_ _Formans_ overnight, it was a long road and we hit a few bumps. I once left Laurie's baby carriage at the Piggly Wiggly _with_ Laurie still in it and it took Kitty almost two months before she was able to change Eric's diaper without entering the splash zone."

Now it was Hyde's turn to find amusement in the words being said and to his surprise a scowl wasn't sent his way when he did chuckle at the shared stories.

"The point is we made mistakes, just like you and Jackie will. And that that's okay. Parenting is a trial and error kind of thing." explained the elder of the two, "Some things will work and some things won't, all kids are different. There's no secret to any kind of 'perfect' parenting and anyone who tells you differently is a dumbass."

To show his understandment Hyde nodded his head and soon felt a hand on his left shoulder.

"You and Jackie are gonna make a fine set of parents." Red said, firmly squeezing Hyde's shoulder before moving his hand completely, "Who knows maybe one day you'll be _the_ _Formans_."

Hyde smirked at hearing this, "So one day I could be out in my garage looking for some home movies I couldn't care less about but Jackie wants to see?"

"Maybe."

"Cool." Hyde said with a smirk and a nod, "Thanks Red."

And with that said, Hyde stood up and gave a quick pat on the back to Red before he headed back towards the kitchen to tell his wife the good news about him being ready to find out their good news.

0o0o0o

"Steven, thank you so much for agreeing to this. It really means a lot to me." Jackie told her husband in a sincere tone of voice.

A few hours had passed since they first arrived at the Forman home looking for help and even fewer since Hyde told Jackie he was okay with the gender reveal. The pair was now seated together on the living sofa waiting for the older couple to come in from the kitchen. Kitty was putting the finishing touches on the cake and Red was keeping her company, giving Hyde and Jackie some alone time that they would soon be limited to when the baby was born.

"Anything for you, Doll." Hyde smirked before adding, "But for our next kid, you think we could let that one be a surprise?"

"Sure." Jackie quickly agreed, "Just as long as you're the one carrying that next child, Puddin'."

Hyde's mouth twitched into a fuller smile at his wife's words, "Sounds like a plan."

Meanwhile, on the other side of the swinging door Kitty was standing with a piping bag—full of pink frosting—in her hands a she added on the little details to the cake of the hour.

"Oh Red, isn't this so exciting?" she asked, bubbling with her own excitement.

Red was seated back in his seat at the table and did not look anywhere near as eager as Kitty did, "It's just a cake, Kitty."

After putting the piping bag down, Kitty placed her now free hand on her hip and turned to her husband, "Red Forman, you would think would be a little more excited about this. After all it means you get to have a little dessert after lunch and before dinner, and how often does that happen?"

A mischievous smirk played on Red's lips as he stood up and walked towards Kitty.

"The only dessert I'm interested in is you." he told her before moving his arms around her waist.

Feeling his arms wrap around her from behind made Kitty let out one of her infamous girlish laughs which caused Red to chuckle his own lighter but still happy laughs.

"Oh Red." She said bashfully then looked up at him; her tone less shy, "You are not getting me to kick those kids out of our house."

His arms were removed from around her waist and Red's smile dropped but he looked more disappointed than angry. Kitty noticed his expression and tried to hold in her smile but it still managed to crack onto her lips in a smaller, tighter form.

She scooped the cake up into her arms and headed for the doorway, "They'll be out of here in twenty minutes, tops."

To show that he could work with that plan, Red's smirk made a reappearance and he used his right arms to hold the swinging door open for his wife and the cake.

"Tada!" Kitty shouted as she and the cake entered the living room with Red not far behind.

Jackie and Hyde's attention was right away caught and the followed Kitty's hands as she moved the cake onto the coffee table in front of the parents-to-be so that they could get a better look at the masterpiece. The cake was round and covered in white butter cream frosting, there were also several polka dots in both pink and blue scattered on the cake and in the respective colors the words 'Boy or Girl?' had been written at the top of the cake. It wasn't a very big cake but it had been made with lots of love.

"Oh Mrs. Forman it's beautiful!" Jackie gushed while grinning at the cake, "Isn't it Steven?"

Hyde nodded, "Yeah, it really looks great Mrs. Forman."

"That's because I helped, right Mrs. Forman?" the younger woman beamed up at the older one.

Kitty smiled back, moving her head up and down, "That's right, Jackie." She giggled, "You were my like my own little Kitchenaid mixer."

Wearing a proud smile, Jackie informed, "I even got to lick the spoon and cake batter actually tastes a lot better than it looks."

"Are you cutting the cake or not?" Red asked impatiently from his seat in the green armchair, he didn't want this cooking story to grow into a longer one.

"Aw Mr. Forman, are you that excited to find out about your future grandchild?" a grinning Jackie questioned, thinking it was sweet.

Red frowned, "No. I'm just…looking forward to dessert."

When she heard his words Kitty instantly began to giggle again, this time a little too much and while Red smirked at the sight Hyde and Jackie were only confused, giving her strange looks before exchanging them between themselves. Soon enough, Kitty caught herself and tried to compose herself by cutting her laugh short, clearing her throat, and then rubbing her palms over her skirt nervously.

"Okay, then, let's get started, everybody gather around…" her words suddenly faded as she realized it was only the four of the in the room, "Where is everyone?"

"It would take them too long to get here," explained Jackie with a wave of her hand as she scooted closer to the table and cake, "I wanna cut into this baby." As soon as the words left her mouth, her eyes grew big and she placed her hand on her tummy, and spoke in a soft baby voice, "Not you baby, mommy loves you, baby."

Hyde looked on at the scene and placed her hand beside Jackie's, "Yeah, and don't worry once you're out here and get to meet her she'll be back to her normal self."

"That's what you think." Red commented, saving his adopted son from the glares coming from the women but getting them sent in his own direction; when he saw them he glared back, "Just cut the damn cake, Jackie."

The reminder of the cake and the baby associated with it appeared to help the women's anger fade and focus their attention of the main event of the day. While Kitty grabbed her trusty camera, Jackie grabbed the knife that Red had placed on the table not too long ago.

The brunette looked over at Hyde, "Steven, will you help me?"

"Sure." He nodded. "Ready?"

Just like when they cut their wedding cake, Hyde's hand covered Jackie's hand that held onto the knife and together they pushed the blade into the cake. The inside of the cake couldn't be seen just yet but as they moved the knife back up a few crumbs emerged.

Blue crumbs.

The little specs quickly caught the eyes of both Hyde and Jackie. Hyde's eyes filled with excitement while Jackie's looked to have worry inside them. Smiling away, Kitty snapped one photo and then many others. With the knife still in their grasp, the couple cut another slit and carried out the slice of cake and onto the nearby glass plate.

Jackie stared down at the plate of cake in her hands, the plate of blue cake.

"It's blue." She said still sounding surprised, "Why is it blue?"

"Because you're having a boy! Yay!" cheered Kitty before she took yet another photo.

"Steven, it's blue." Jackie said, showing the cake to Hyde as if he hadn't already seen it.

"I know Doll, we're having a boy." He said smiling softly before placing a kiss on her forehead, "A son."

As he said the last part, Hyde looked over at his surrogate father who only looked back at him with a proud smile on his lips.

"But…but it's blue Steven. It's not supposed to be blue." Argued Jackie in a shaky voice that quickly switched to an angrier one, "Mrs. Forman, your old people eyesight must've read the paper wrong."

Kitty frowned, feeling offended but did pull out the paper that had been in the envelope, "Jackie, I didn't read anything wrong. It says here, perfectly clear, that you're having a boy."

She lifted the paper for the young woman to see and when Jackie looked at it she saw that Kitty was right. There's in big bold blue letters were the three words 'It's a Boy!'

"We're having a boy." Jackie repeated, her tone of voice back to a fragile sounding one, "Excuse me."

Moving at a faster speed than one was used to seeing a pregnant woman move in, Jackie pushed herself off the sofa and hurriedly made her way to the back room of the Formans' den; and of course Hyde was soon on his feet and following her tacks.

By the time he reached the den he found Jackie seated on the chair in there, trying to pull her wedding ring off her finger.

"Jackie?"

Her head shot up, "Oh Steven, good you're here. Go get me a piece of string while I get my ring off."

"What're you doing?" he asked gently, taking a seat next to her.

"I'm gonna do that ring on the string test." Jackie explained, "Maybe this time we'll get a girl."

"Pretty sure the doctor's more accurate than Mrs. Forman's sister's test, Doll." came Hyde's reply before his brows began to furrow, "You don't want a boy?"

Jackie stopped her yanking on her ring and sighed, "It's not that. It's just…" she sighed, "I was so sure we were gonna have a girl, Steven. That's why I wanted to do this gender reveal cake thing. I knew it was going to be a girl so I figured we'd cut the cake and see it was pink and then I could use that as my confirmation to buy all those pink frilly things I put on layaway at the mall. That way I could have my cake and eat it too. But now we're having a boy. Boys are made from frogs, snails, and puppy dog tails. I don't like any of those things, Steven!"

Hyde wanted to laugh, he thought it was entertaining to see the roles had been switched, but when Jackie's big brown eyes looked up at him with worry instead of disappointment he decided against it and instead put a comforting arm around her and pulled her closer to him

"I'm not a boy, Steven." Jackie continued, "I don't act or dress like a boy either like Donna. What am I gonna do with a baby boy, Steven?"

"You're gonna baby and fuss all over him the way Mrs. Forman does with us guys." explained Hyde, then a sudden thought occurred to him, "Just don't make him into a Mama's boy like Forman, alright?"

That got a tiny laugh from her but she was still worried.

"What if we never have anything in common? What if he doesn't like me?"

"You're gonna find things in common." He tried to assure her, "And he's not gonna like you, he's gonna love you."

She sniffled, "You think so?"

"I know it." Hyde confirmed making Jackie smile once again, "Having a boy's gonna be great, Jackie. Bet you even end up being his personal cheerleader at all his games."

That idea made Jackie smile as she cuddled up closer into Hyde's chest, " I guess having a boy won't be too bad." she reasoned, "Maybe he'll even end up being just like you."

"Yeah." Hyde agreed with a smirk but the more he thought about the things he'd done and how he could now have a son who did all those things, his smirk began to shrink more and more until it was gone completely, "I gotta go talk to Red again."

Hyde then got up and exited the room in search of Red, leaving Jackie behind to think about what life would be like with their little boy. It didn't take long for her smile to turn into a big grin as she sat there, rubbing her belly, and thinking about the near future.

**The End**

* * *

_**Author's Note: **__So what did you think? Good? Bad? A little of each? Be sure to let me know in a review!_

_Hope you all liked the ending and didn't think Jackie's little freak out wasn't too OOC. A good point had been made about JH usually having girls in stories and when Eliza Ghost wondered how Jackie would deal with having a boy I started to do the same and came up with this! :D_

_Also I'm currently still thinking over the idea of doing more stories like this. Perhaps more baby like stories, or maybe just JH with RK stories because writing the interactions between the four was a lot of fun for me and you all seemed to like the first chapter and hopefully this one too. What do you think?_

_Once again thank you for all the incredible support that you all gave this story, all the reviews, alerts, and favorites and everything in between! Thank you!_

_Until next time, thanks for reading, hope you liked, please review and lemme know what you think, take care, and have a nice day!_


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